Subscription box business plan pdf

Business Plan Part 1 Let’s Play LLC

2. Mission Statement We believe exercising your body and brain and creating memories can be done within your own home without breaking the bank or being a hassle.

4. Industry Profile and Overview Keys to Success Let’s Play is focusing the keys to success around a well-organized business plan, targeted marketing, and superior service. Let’s Play is utilizing resources to plan a successful business. The funding, sales, and logistics of business will be planned yet be flexible. The owner will gather all information on creating a successful business while planning for the unexpected. Let’s Play will conduct the research of the targeted market. Knowing the customers will mean conducting the necessary research to know how to make the sale. Understanding the competition and incorporating the added value will create a superior service offering. Terms, guarantees, inventory turns, vendors, and information are all sited as crucial understandings to add value to the company’s product. * This added value will lock the relationship with customers and allow Let’s Play to build a successful market. *PowerHomeBiz.com. Understanding the Added Values You Provide Customers. Retrieved from

https://www.powerhomebiz.com/marketing-tips/competitive-analysis/added-values.htm Environmental Factors

A. Legal Environment. The legal environment of Let’s Play includes obtaining licensing for the LLC. The state of Colorado requires a filing of an Articles of Organization. The fee for this is $50. * This form would allow Let’s Play to receive an EIN needed for tax purposes.

It is not required but Let’s Play would create an Operating Agreement. This would be an understanding of how the key personnel would contribute to the company. By breaking down the management and organizational contributions of members, the LLC can receive tax benefits of partnerships. ** There would be legal fees associated with drawing up this agreement.

B. Political Environment. Politically, Let’s Play needs to reflect on the economy as the product offering is considered a luxury. The national unemployment level has hit record lows since 2009. *** This is wonderful news for Let’s Play’s political environment. The consumer price index has also steadily increased. This is

good for Let’s Play since they are marketing a product that is only getting more expensive. By providing customers a chance to use these games without buying, consumers are seeing a savings on an inflating product.

*Secretary of State. (2018). Article of Organization (Limited Liability Company). Colorado. Retrieved from https://www.sos.state.co.us/biz/LLCTransaction.do?name=Play+Pack. **Scarborough, N. & Cornwall, J. (2014). Essentials of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. Eighth Edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. ***Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2018). Databases, Tables and Calculators by Subject. Retrieved from https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&in clude_graphs=true

C. Barriers to Entry Barriers to entry include securing licensing, logistic, user agreement and security negotiations. These factors will require research. It would be best to consult with legal and specialized professionals about approaching these issues in a way to ensure all barriers are addressed.

1. Licensing. Hasbro, Mattel, Pressman Toys, and other key game manufactures will likely be looking for answers on copyright laws. By contracting a copyright professional, Let’s Play can ensure fair use laws are properly in place.*

2. Logistics. Coordinating shipping logistics will need to be negotiated. Let’s Play will need to approach major shipping carriers to design a method of board game delivery that is efficient and easy for subscribers.

3. User Agreements. Let’s Play will, once again, need to enlist the assistance of a legal professional to create user agreements that are agreeable for subscribers yet protective for Let’s Play. These will need to cover payment arrangements, non-return of board games, and subscription terms.

4. Security. As a primarily technology operated company, Let’s Play will need to research and create security checkpoints for the company and customers. Designing a data bank of customer information and payments will be costly but necessary to protect sensitive information.

*Copyright.gov. (2018). Frequently Asked Questions About Copyright Laws. Retrieved from

https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/

5. Competitor Analysis Competitive Edge (Advantage)

Let’s Play is a one-of-a-kind offering. The market of subscription boxes has been flourishing for some time but offering these boxes for family entertainment is new. This allows Let’s Play to capitalize on a trendy niche market while appealing to one on the largest target markets—families. By offering activity and board games with name recognition and their own marketing campaigns in play, Let’s Play will not be burdened with selling customers on the product itself but merely the delivery system. Let’s Play will also offer customers the ability to have a variety of games being sent to their home for less than the cost of just one new activity or board game per month. Families can play new games and classics without having to find in-home storage or spending money on a game that will only be played a few times.

Competitor Analysis

Existing Competitors:

• While companies with this exact offering does not exist, Walmart, Target, and Amazon are competitors. These stores offer instant, or almost instant, game delivery. These companies can provide customers with a variety of board games. There is also a variety of board game subscription boxes available through Crate Joy. * The offerings from Crate Joy are online based similar to Let’s Play but are limited to puzzle/mystery style games. There is also Wonder Crate. This subscription box service is a social-emotional learning promotion box for young children. It has games and activities for children which are chosen by the parents. **

• Once customers purchase games at these retailers, they own the game and can do what they wish with the game. This gives customers the ease of mind that there is no need to return the game. Customers can also view this as a one-time fee instead of a monthly expense. This also allows the buyers to choose what is being sent to them.

*Crate Joy. (2018). Board Game Subscription Boxes. Retrieved from

https://www.cratejoy.com/category/board-games/ **MSA, (2018, May 18). Best Subscription Boxes for Families – Our Readers’ Top Picks. My

Subscription Addition. Retrieved from: https://www.mysubscriptionaddiction.com/best- subscription-boxes/best-family-friendly-boxes

Future Competitors:

• It is likely that as the market for this type of game delivery subscription becomes a household

idea, competition will enter the market more directly. A likely competitor will be Amazon. Amazon has often been quick to react to trends and will have the advantage of being a large, well-known company with capital to work with.

• If Amazon, or a similar company chose to enter this market, Let’s Play would be driven to reevaluate our competitive edge. We may need to reexamine pricing, product offerings, or marketing techniques to ensure our customers are still receiving and perceiving full value.

6. Business Strategy The Limited Liability Company was the best fit for company ownership because of tax breaks, limited liability, and flexibility in management. LLCs are taxed similarly to a partnership or sole proprietorship. The company itself does not get taxed, just the income the owner draws from the company is taxed. This avoids the double taxation many corporations face. This is an important idea for the owners as we have invested seed money and time into Let’s Play. The simplification of taxes will be a relief for the owners. The limited liability of a LLC is similar to corporations. The business itself is held accountable for business debt or damages. I, as an owner, would not be held personally accountable for repayment of business expenses. Forming Let’s Play as an LLC also allows me to readjust my sole management to a partnership to a group of members as the company needs change. While there are legalities about operating agreements and the costs of organization, an LLC allows Let’s Play to take the best organizational aspects of corporations and sole proprietorships.